COVENTRY and Warwickshire business leaders and MPs have joined forces in support of Birmingham Airport - branding it a solution to the ongoing debate over Heathrow’s third runway.

Both Tories and Labour MPs have united to call for spare capacity at Birmingham Airport to be used to ease congestion in the South-East.

Twenty Conservative and ten Labour MPs and MEPs in addition to council leaders, Chambers of Commerce and many businesses said that in the long-term the development of Birmingham Airport as a major gateway at the centre of the UK would reduce unproductive surface travel time and leave Heathrow as a gateway for London and the South-East.

Nuneaton Tory MP, Marcus Jones, said: “There has been a debate raging for some time over Heathrow and the third runway and I think there are a number of people in the West Midlands that feel the debate should be widened and look for economic growth out of the South East.

“We want them to look to the West Midlands and bring more flights to Birmingham. What is going on at Birmingham Airport right now is fantastic and the added value from the airport is huge, not just for Birmingham, but for the whole of Coventry and Warwickshire.”

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, also added her support to the campaign, claiming the benefits would be felt across the whole region.

She said: “We believe expansion at Birmingham Airport would be positive for the whole of the region.

“For Coventry and Warwickshire, it is of huge benefit economically to have a major international airport on our doorstep and if that could be enhanced, it would be a positive.”

In a letter from local MPs and business leaders it said: “A ‘hub airport’ in the South East favours a small, congested, and already economically strong part of the country. We need gateways close to the manufacturing, research and development of the Midlands and the North, linking these regions directly to emerging markets.

“Overseas investors are discouraged from investing where there are no global links. For Britain, over-reliance on one large, full airport, risks national resilience and leads the rest of the world to believe there is just one gateway to this country.”